Dave South reflects on more than three decades at Texas A&M

Key notes from Dave South interview

• I feel humbled and blessed that when they announced it, my phone started going off. I was told I was the number seven in the nation trending topic on Twitter, it has been very humbling. We were walking at the park and a couple of people stopped us to ask what I’m going to do now. There are some travel plans. We prayed about this a lot. I have been blessed with my relationship with Texas A&M and lots of Aggies.
  
  
• The man that had the greatest influence on me was my grandfather Charlie. He lived to be 91 and he was the picture of great health. He sat down in his chair in a home for seniors and said to wake him up when it’s time to eat, and an hour later he had gone to heaven. I want to do as much as I can while I’m still healthy. The first thing I want to do in the fall is go to the Grand Canyon, hike to the bottom, spend the night down there, then hike back to the top. Leanne has never been to Washington D.C. My health is good and that’s the reason.
  
  
• This is my 47th year of collegiate broadcasting and my 32nd year at Texas A&M. I say that's because in the old network concept, Exxon owned the right to every Southwest Conference school. You were not assigned to one school as a broadcaster. You would get your schedule two weeks out from the game. They wanted absolutely no favoritism shown for these teams. In the 1980 season, with a different network, I did about six or seven Aggie football games even though I wasn’t the A&M announcer. I did NBA games for about four years. I was watching one of the classic deals and the Spurs and the Lakers were playing. I kept thinking the game looks familiar. Then they had a sideline shot and there I was. That’s the reason it was familiar. There have been a lot of games.
  
  
• There were two things I got to do in life that I fell in love with - broadcasting sporting events and sales. That is part of the reason I got the job at A&M, I brought sports broadcasting and sales to the table. A&M called me and asked if I would do one year for them. I have always loved A&M so I said yes. Then 1985 turned into 2017.
  
  
• I came at the right time. ‘85, ‘86, and ‘87 were three great years for A&M football. I had a great relationship with Jackie Sherrill. For the first year or two, at home, I would do the play-by-play for A&M at Kyle Field. In the ‘86 season, he asked me, “So you don’t do the play by play for every game?” I told him no and he said, “That’s going to stop.” Jackie was instrumental in getting A&M its own specific network. There was no one else in the booth with me. Then each school had its own network. Then Dave Elmendorf joined me. He understands the game, never criticizes. He’s an Aggie and wants A&M to win.
  
  
• The visiting radio teamexcept at A&M, was always dead last on the list. At an unnamed school, we barely had enough room to stand in the booth, there was a tarp as the door, and the engineer had to set up in the hall. Dave (Elmendorf) and I have never had a cross word. It’s been a blessing to have him alongside me all these years.
  
  
• You never think about the reach of the radio, but Leanne and I had gone to Colorado on vacation. We found out about this great hike. We reach the valley and we haven’t seen anyone. Then these three ladies come towards us. When they got to me, the daughter said hi to me, I said howdy, then she turned to me and said, “You’re Dave South!" It’s the reach of the radio. It always floored me when someone recognized my voice.
  
  
• When I was doing the old network days, I played it right down the middle. I tried to be fair. When A&M does something great, I get excited. When the other team did something well, we blew their horn too. We gave the team credit. But, I take pride in being a homer. I work for Texas A&M, not ESPN. If our company is successful, we blow our company’s horn.
  
  
• The bonfire game stands out to me. That game above every other game I have ever done stands out to me. There are others. The comeback against Northern Iowa in basketball was one of the greatest basketball games I had ever seen. I had already said congrats to Northern Iowa then all of a sudden I looked at John Thornton and said something is happening here. Kevin Stallings was the head coach at Vanderbilt, he’s now at Pitt, he looked at the last 40 seconds of the game and said 11 things needed to happen for A&M to win that game. If one didn’t, A&M doesn’t win. He was right.
  
  
• I remember going to the College World Series in 2011, going to Florida State and winning the super regional and a lot of football games, like the Oklahoma game here, the Nebraska game, the bowl game against Michigan in San Antonio. I told Kyle Bryant that when they ask him how he felt, he needs to say, “I get a kick out of life.” He kicked all those field goals against Michigan and when the reporters asked him how he felt, he said, “I get a kick out of life.” That’s just a few of them, but it goes on and on. You never get used to the losing. I’m not as bad now as I used to be though, there is always another game coming up.
  
  
• I remember what everyone else remembers about the shot from Acie Law. First of all, Acie Law was a great guy. When something great happens to someone you know is a good person, it makes it that much better. That was a heck of a game and a special moment for Aggie basketball.
  
  
• You just couldn’t believe what you were seeing with Johnny Manziel. Manziel was really special. I will close out my career by saying he is the greatest football player I have ever seen in my career. I’ve seen some really good ones. I don’t think anyone has ever been better that Johnny. He was special.
  
  
• Rodney Thomas died too soon. He was a great, great guy. One year he went home from a bowl game, he found out about someone who wasn’t doing well, and went to give this kid his bowl watch as a gift. He was walking on campus once, I ran up on him, grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him backwards. I can always say I caught Rodney Thomas from the backside. Everyone should’ve gotten to know Rodney Thomas.
  
  
• I never had a problem at Texas Tech. I had to go to the other side of the floor once and the shortest way was to go in front of the students. I decided to go the shortest way. I had an A&M shirt on. Someone yelled my name and he said, “I love you!” The place I had the greatest trouble was at Baylor. They were pretty harsh.
  
  
• In the Big 12, the other schools did not like Colorado. Colorado automatically sided with A&M, Texas, Texas Tech, and Baylor after the Big 8/SWC merger. They would stay on our side of the room at gatherings. The other seven schools wanted nothing to do with us. It took us two or three years before it got better. When we went to the SEC, we went to play basketball at Madison Square Garden. Some Kentucky fans came up, we were wearing A&M gear, and the fans said, “We want to welcome you to the SEC.” That happened all the time. That transition was as smooth as ever.
  
  
• My favorite part has been the relationships and all the people I have gotten to meet. For instance, at Aggie Muster, it would break my heart when a name was called and I didn't realize that person had passed away. As that started to happen to me, I would always try to close every time I spoke by saying, “I appreciate all of you and I’ve made new friends here today.” I love the Aggie family.